Day 19 - August 24 Sunrise to Sunset

Yesterday around the pool, we discussed our strategy for exiting New York.  A number of factors were taken into consideration some of which included departure time, advice from locals that we've crossed paths with, total distance that needs to be ridden and the final destination point.  All with the common goal of hopefully helping us to avoid rush hour traffic.  Therefore we were pulling out of the parking garage at 0615, which in Tim's mind could've been about 1 hour 45 minutes too late.  It was 0415 in Idaho.  That should count for something, I thought.  And the argument of having the light of day available helped sway him to wait.  Alan and his trusty GPS were out front. This is how we got into New York and this is how we'll get out.

It was 63 degrees and a bit chilly when we headed north on I-95 with a plan to take I-87/287 bypass to the Tappan Zee bridge. We crossed into New Jersey using Hwy 202 which then connected us to I-80.  Of course, with interstate travel brings multiple lanes of traffic and semis amongst the other vehicles.  As we rode into Hope, NJ we were cold as temps seemed to have dropped.  We were also all in awe at the number of NJ State Troopers that were on our path this morning.  There were more than we've seen on the entire ride combined! Each of us ordered a warm beverage with a breakfast treat at the Dunkin Donuts near the Tramontin HD store, which happens to be the oldest dealership in NJ with 101 years in business.

East Stroudsburg in the Poconos was our gateway to Pennsylvania and we exited I-80 in favor of Hwy 209.  Our next stop was in Orwigsburg, PA which is on Hwy 443.

From here we made our way to Gettysburg, PA.  Our first stop was the HD store.  What a treat this stop turned out to be!  The gals in motorclothes helped me remember the name of the restaurant that I wanted to take the group to for lunch and even better, they had flat rate boxes in stock.  Cowdens' were able to empty the treasures of their saddle bags and add to the stash that will be awaiting them when they return to Pocatello. Lunch was at the Dobbin House Tavern built in 1776.  Fascinating piece of history and really good food too!

Following lunch we headed to Gettysburg National Military Park.  Inside the Visitor's Center we viewed the exhibits and Tim mentioned they had an empty saddle bag now so they probably ought to check out the gift shop.  We did drive by a few portions of the battlefield grounds.  However, this place would take at least a full day to really explore it.

US 15 took us away from Gettysburg and into Maryland where we visited the Frederick HD. From there Hwy 340 led us towards the Potomac.

Crossing the Potomac we were surprised to find ourselves at the Virginia border as we were expecting to cross into West Virginia before we'd reach VA.  Turns out that VA claims the land just across the Potomac from Maryland, but a 2-3 miles down the road is the border of West Virginia. This is our 5th state today!!

Our visit to West Virginia only lasted about 14 miles.  One thing that was different in the scenery of our short visit was that the farmhouses seemed to be down in the valleys between the hills.  In the other states in the region the houses are higher on the hillsides.  Here you could just see the tops of the silos and the roof tops. Virginia hwy 7 connected us from 340 to I-81 which by sunset/dusk took us into Stephens City, VA for the night.

 

For several miles (maybe 10-15) the traffic coming towards us had come to almost a complete stop.  We didn't see what had caused the backing up, and the hotel desk clerk had only heard that it was backing up.  It must have been a serious accident.  We were so grateful that it wasn't on our side of the interstate. 

 In summary, it was a very long day. There's was a lot of stopping intermingled with the usual amount of riding. In addition to covering five states, we also checked off my special request for the trip which was to avoid the traffic of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington DC by coming inland as far as Gettysburg.

Total miles traveled: 396.4;
Time to travel that distance: 14 hours (longest day yet)
Total Cumulative miles: 6931.9
Tomorrow: Shenandoah National Park and East